Taiwan to send team to assess US rare earth deposits

TAIPEI, Feb 11 (Reuters) - Taiwan plans to send officials to assess U.S. rare earths deposits with a goal to have such minerals refined on the island, Economy Minister Kung Ming-hsin said on Wednesday.

President Donald Trump's administration has stepped up efforts to secure U.S. supplies of critical minerals after China rattled senior officials and global markets last year by withholding rare earths required by American automakers and other industrial manufacturers.

Trump last week launched a U.S. strategic stockpile of critical minerals, called Project Vault, backed by $10 billion in seed funding from the U.S. Export-Import Bank and $2 billion in private funding.

While semiconductor powerhouse Taiwan is not formally part of that scheme, it has previously held talks with the United States on how it can help, given Taipei's concerns about over-reliance on a China-centric supply chain.

China views Taiwan as its own territory and has stepped up its military threats.

Speaking to reporters in Taipei, Kung said the ministry's Geological Survey and Mining Management Agency would go to the United States to assess rare earths deposits there.

"Specifically, what rare-earth elements they contain and whether they are suitable. In other words, whether those are the rare earths we actually need. So we still need to investigate," he said.

Given Taiwan does not mine such elements itself, it can instead play a role in refining the materials from other countries, Kung added.

"The technology is not an issue; the next step is scaling up," he said.

Taiwan consumes 1,500 metric tonnes of rare earth annually, a figure projected to rise to 2,000 metric tonnes given economic growth, Kung added.

"Our goal is to expand production capacity to meet half of our demand by then, strengthening the supply chain."